Saturday, January 27, 2007

Final Draft Prospect Text - Go Go Feedback!

BIO

Collaboration is the answer but what is the question? 1
The Association of Collaboration (TAC) is an art project currently consisting of seven participants who meet on a regular basis to practice and critically discuss collaborative processes and frameworks. Current members were initially recruited through an artwork established by an open call for involvement. A number of these participants recombined to begin TAC’s ongoing collaborative experiment through the forum of Every Now and Then, a show designed to investigate relational practices at artist-run initiative Enjoy in late 2006.

Challenging the potential of a ‘creative democracy’, the Association seeks to develop their skills with regards to the collaborative process and consensus-based 2 decision making.

The Association of Collaboration is an ongoing experimentation that attempts to distill and explain collaborative models for others to make use of. To find out more about our processes you could visit http://www.theassociationofcollaboration.blogspot.com

1 Hans Ulrich Obrist, Cited in Hal Foster, ‘Chat Rooms’ (2004)
2 “Consensus involves the complete exploration of a particular situation with the recognition that there are going to be conflicting points of view, and that it is important that these come into the open during this process. These differences are not resolved just because a decision is reached. Individuals who are not in agreement with the “majority” perspective do not just give up their differences and comply with the majority […] It mean[s] that everyone has been involved in the process, and that every one agrees to test a particular outcome for its workability.”




Blurb on Work

Do you avoid asking questions about contemporary art for fear of seeming ignorant? Are you choked up and jittery when asked for feedback from an artist? Do you avoid eye contact with gallery hosts?

TAC helps you to help yourself.

Contemporary Art Mobile Response Unit oranges up a rally cry for the audience to join TAC and the trolley volunteers in the common cause of enriching our collective Prospect art experiences.

The Unit aims to provide an open, interactive alternative to the curatorial voice. The work’s primary function is an attempted intervention in the gulf between art and its audiences, a complication and analysis of **** roles. With participation and critique at its core, it offers a forum for animated conversation, provoking interrogation of meaning and response.

By providing interpretive models that are suggestive rather than prescriptive, The Association of Collaboration (TAC) has designed ’Mobile Response Unit to encourage visitors, providing thinking tools and opening the passage of communication around contemporary art. The unit establishes an opportunity to share a critical response, to clarify and challenge.

’Mobile Response Unit is an expression of a stage in the journey TAC is making to explore useful and operational models of collaboration. The trolley is the first product of TAC’s collective process, hopefully building an auxiliary curatorial voice and challenging notions of individual authorship. Audience participation (input) will widen the scope of the collaboration.

YOU, the public as a potential collaborator…
Join in and make this a zesty collaborative experience!
Perhaps prompted by our festive flow charts? Or by adding thoughts you’d like to share…
Do you like a work just because it’s blue/tiny/shiny…?
Does it make you happy/sad/angry…?
Sharing is caring :-)

Love, The Association.

7 comments:

Andrea said...

BIO-good!
Blurb- very cute! eg 'Join in and make this a ZESTY experience' mmm tangerine?
Festive flowcharts? ...why not
but maybe 'Love, TAC' rather than
'Love, The Association'
seems like a rather token comment on my behalf, but really that's just because i think it's great, keep on TACing
xA

Melanie Oliver said...

Hey team,

Looking good I think, just a few points that crossed my mind reading over this again...

I think it's important that we continue to phrase things as plural at all times ie 'critical responses'. Our audience for this may be 'the general public' but I'd like to think we could also offer something of value to a more specialised art audience through encouraging dialogue, slight silliness and even some more tailored flow charts etc. This work needs to operate on different levels for different folks.

Also, this work is not just a trolley. The trolley is the biggest physical thing that will be present in the gallery but I think we should be careful to note that it is ' the work' or 'Mobile Response Unit' or perhaps even 'unit' but refrain from just saying trolley.

And lastly, I think we should keep in mind the audience for this text/ the catalogue - I like the tone of most of this, it's fun and earnest and the pastiche is all good, but I wonder if the ending is more a wall text type of thing? This is intended more as analysis than advertisement... how does the public reading the catalogue join in? I do like the lightness of the ending though...

Go us.

See ya soon!
M x

Tom said...

aaaccckkk it took me ages to get here because i am on dial-up. this looks great, like the others i enjoy the tone, i am much more into down-playing than taking things too seriously.
'zesty'= good adverb!!

Paula Booker said...

great feedback Tom, Andie and Mel. I feel real proud of the text too, and suggest in the spirit of collaboration that those with changes try out their suggestions in the text, and re-blog it for others to see. Then you can show what you mean/how to achieve that change. ACE

Melanie Oliver said...

Hi all, here is a proposed edited version:

Do you avoid asking questions about contemporary art for fear of seeming ignorant? Are you choked-up and jittery when asked for feedback from an artist? Do you wish you could break the silence in the gallery or chat with someone over what it could be about? Are you fed up with consuming brief supportive art texts that fail to critically assess?

TAC helps you to help yourself.

Contemporary Art Mobile Response Unit oranges up a rally cry for the audience to join TAC and the trolley volunteers in the common cause of enriching our collective Prospect art experiences.

’Mobile Response Unit aims to provide an open, interactive alternative to the curatorial voice. The work’s primary function is an attempted intervention in the gulf between art and its audiences, a complication and analysis of interactive roles. With participation and critique at its core, it offers a forum for animated conversation, provoking interrogation of meaning and response.

By providing interpretive models that are suggestive rather than prescriptive, The Association of Collaboration (TAC) has designed ’Mobile Response Unit to encourage visitors, offering them thinking tools and opening the passages of communication around contemporary art. The work empowers audiences to clarify and question, establishing opportunities to share critical responses.

’Mobile Response Unit is an expression of the journey TAC is making, to explore useful operational models of collaboration. The unit is the first product of TAC’s collective process, hopefully building auxiliary voices within the exhibition and challenging notions of authorship.

Potential collaborators that join the cause – YOU! – contribute to make this a zesty collaborative experience! From those who like a work just because it’s blue/tiny/shiny to those who respond because it makes them happy/sad/angry, to audiences who seek out broader art contexts or are prompted to consider our world in a fresh light.
Sharing is caring :-)

Love, The Association of Collaboration.



BIOGAPHY

Collaboration is the answer but what is the question? 1

The Association of Collaboration (TAC) is an art project currently consisting of seven individuals who meet on a regular basis to practice and critically discuss collaborative processes and frameworks. Current members were initially recruited through an artwork established by an open call for involvement. A number of these participants recombined to begin TAC’s ongoing collaborative experiment through the forum of Every Now and Then, a show designed to investigate relational practices at artist-run initiative Enjoy in late 2006.

Challenging the potential of a ‘creative democracy’, TAC is an ongoing experimentation that seeks to utilise, develop, distil and explore collaborative models and consensus-based decision making. 2 To find out more about our processes you could visit http://www.theassociationofcollaboration.blogspot.com


1 Hans Ulrich Obrist, Cited in Hal Foster, ‘Chat Rooms’ (2004)
2 “Consensus involves the complete exploration of a particular situation with the recognition that there are going to be conflicting points of view…These differences are not resolved just because a decision is reached. Individuals who are not in agreement with the ‘majority’ perspective do not just give up their differences and comply… [Consensus means] that everyone has been involved in the process, and that every one agrees to test a particular outcome for its workability.”

Liz said...

I think it is reading really well and is ready to go. Really effective incorporation of the zesty chatter with additional critical meatyness.

We have lost the reference for the consensus definition along the way:

P 138-139. William A Kraus, Collaboration in Organisations, Alternatives to Hierarchy. Human Sciences Press, 1980, New York

Im not sure what to do from here - are we still waiting for everyone to ok it before we send it?
?

Andrea said...

hope this has been sent off already but just wanted to give my belated approval great work guys :)